I just can't get enough of this book. Wonderfully scripted in the Florida scrub, I feel a sense of kinship with Marjorie who moved from a large city to own and run an orange grove.

The delightful Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings provides her readers with a deep-dish slice of life in a southern community that, although imperfect, is a network of wonderful people. At the same time, Rawlings' insights into nature, its seasons, rhythms and anomalies, are acute, sensitive and heart-warming. This is a complex woman who hunts, fishes and explores with the strongest of men, and who decorates her home, cooks, entertains, writes, and enjoys the luxuries of fine living, albeit in a shabby old farmhouse.

Rawlings takes her readers inside the community at Cross Creek to meet the powerfully wise Martha Mickens and her family. She tenderly acquaints us with Old Boss Brice, Tom Glisson and all her neighbors, as well as her servants, her friends and acquaintances with whom she shares love, camradery, disputes and lawsuits. Much of Rawlings' tales center on her black servants who come and go, many of whom she grows to love. She shares with her readers her troubles and misunderstandings, readily admitting when she has been wrong, and firmly standing for what she believes is right. She is a firm and generous employer whose heart is softer than she might let on. - Book Rags